SIR Sean Connery’s wife is to stand trial in Spain over an alleged multi-million pound tax fraud involving the sale of a home owned by the couple.

Micheline Roquebrune could be jailed for two and a half years if convicted.

She also could be fined more than £16million if found guilty of the charges that she took part in an operation to defraud Spanish authorities of nearly £5.5million by masking profits from the sale of the Connerys’ Costa del Sol home.

A judge in Marbella has ordered the trial after a long-running inquiry into the sale in 1999 of Casa Malibu that the couple owned for for more than 20 years.

Sir Sean, 85, was also investigated over the alleged fraud declaring his innocence in a 56-page affidavit and the Spanish authorities decided he would not face trial after.

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The former James Bond actor was accused of “legal ignorance” by the investigating judge as he confirmed his elimination from the inquiry - named Operation Goldfinger after Sir Sean’s 1964 film.

Investigating judge Alfredo Mondeja, the predecessor of the judge who ordered Roquebrune’s trial, blasted Sir Sean and his wife early last year over delays in the case when he announced he was taking no further action against the Scottish actor but would continue to probe her.

He said: "Although the delays may have harmed the progress of the case, it's also true that if the suspects had observed the proper rules of conduct, namely a minimum level of cooperation with the judicial authorities, the fate of those suspects would have been clarified more than two years ago."

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Sir Sean with his wife Micheline Roquebrune

French-born Roquebrune - Sir Sean’s second wife - is accused of aiding and abetting the complex fraud operation through a Spanish company called By The Sea.

Prosecutors allege the artist collaborated with lawyers and businessmen also charged in the Goldfinger case to formalise “fictitious legal transactions” so profits obtained during the sale of the Spanish property could be hidden from the taxman.

The Costa del Sol home was sold in 1999 and subsequently demolished.

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Sir Sean was accused of “legal ignorance” by the investigating judge

We have nothing to do with this. We sold the property and that is it

Micheline Roquebrune

More than 70 flats, later sold for an estimated £45million, were built in its place despite planning regulations stipulating only five flats could be built there.

The long-running case will finally come to a close in January when 16 defendants - including a former corrupt Mayor of Marbella and two layers - go on trial.

Prosecutors want the alleged wrongdoers sentenced to a total of 156 years in prison if they are found guilty of crimes including tax fraud and receiving bribes.

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Roquebrune could be jailed for two and a half years if convicted

Former Marbella mayor Julian Munoz and ex-town planning chief Juan Antonio Roca, who are set to stand trial next year, are already serving prison sentences for separate corruption convictions.

Roquebrune’s trial will take place separately because the last part of the probe into her alleged wrongdoing has been conducted as a separate investigation.

She has previously denied all accusations of fraud, saying at the start of the probe: "These allegations of money-laundering are nonsense.

"We have nothing to do with this. We sold the property and that is it."

Roquebrune has been given just three days to appoint a defence lawyer and has warned she faces an international arrest warrant if she fails to respond to the official notification of her trial within six months.